Ariel Amezcua
Henry Rubalcado (left) and Alberto Acevedo (right) play Victor Frankenstein and The Creature.
Lightning strikes the stage as Del Oro’s Theater program prepares for the opening of this year’s fall play, Frankenstein.
The horror-drama stage adaptation of Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, is set to open 6 p.m. on Halloween night (Oct.31) to accentuate the spooky nature of the production. Director Jason McClain stated that opening night will include the event of a costume contest for students and audience members to participate in, which may result in some cool prizes for winners.
“It’s most definitely open to people coming to see the show,” McClain said. “We’ll drag people up on stage and have the audience vote for best costumes or find some way of adjudicating that. If everything works perfectly, I’ll probably invite one of the principals to choose the winner.
“Halloween falls on a Friday. I mean, we have to do something epic, and Frankenstein was on the top of our list.”
When asked why he made the choice to open the show on Halloween, McClain added, “We were looking for something very suspenseful that would evoke the spirit of the season.”
“We do our performances typically about six o’clock and it doesn’t get dark till almost nine so I think we’ll be safe. And it’s a one act, so it’s a fairly short show. I chose a shorter show, so it would give people plenty of time to party.”
Regarding the class of 2026 within the Drama Club, this is what McClain had to say:
“I have more expectations as we are trying to do bigger and better things,” he said. “We have our first scheduled full-length musical set for the spring, I’ve got choreographers and directors lined up to help. We’re doing bigger shows. We’re doing more shows. We’re continuing to perform in our competitions at the colleges in town, BC and CSUB, so all those things put together, this year should be bigger and better.”
For one of these seniors, Natalie Ruiz, the experience of her last fall play after four years of loyal dedication to the Theater department has been bittersweet. Ruiz said she is excited for opening night and is pleased with all the new people.
“I feel like it might be bittersweet because it is my last time but I am moving onto a new chapter in my life,” she said. “There’s so many new people here and it’s so exciting to see these new faces and it’s so fun to work with them.”
Earlier this semester, during Del Oro’s annual lunchtime event, Club Rush, the drama class gained some new members. When asked about the Drama Club’s success during Club Rush, McClain said he was pleased with the interest from students.
“I think we had a great response,” he said. “We had a number of people sign up. I walked around Club Rush, it looked like it was a great turn out. It certainly had a lot more buzz and was a lot more electric than it had been in years past. I think because our student body is larger and I think that just helps it.”
Performances of Frankenstein are scheduled for Oct. 30 to Nov. 1 at 6 p.m.
“If you’re on campus, you’re a part of campus life. Take advantage of it, [because] once it’s gone, it’s gone,” McClain added as a final statement to motivate students to come see Frankenstein.